' The Nature of the Commonwealth '
H. V. HODSON
History does sometimes get tired of repeating herself. Now and again she experiments with a fresh model-no doubt for future imitation. The British Commonwealth of Nations is a case in point. The British Empire had evolved into an organism so unlike any empire of the past that General Smuts's inspired phrase was badly needed to define its nature : a league of independent states held together by a common ancestry and by allegiance to one crown.
Like all living organisms, the Commonwealth is constantly evolving. It has changed even since General Smuts re-christened it nearly twenty years ago, and the course of its future development is of vital importance to the world.